NOVA Ubiquitous Dioramas, a Must Have!

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I have to admit, I splurged quite a bit on action figures during the pandemic. It was my way of everything we were going through back then. Who would’ve thought that we would actually live through something as terrifying as that right? We lost many wonderful people along the way. For me, I lost two friends who were also fellow toy enthusiasts. One was a close family friend who was almost like a big brother to me. The other was an old boss who was probably the best I ever had. He was into classic tabletop wargaming and even ran a blog called Thomo’s Hole. You should check it out! The one loss that hit me the most was my wife’s miscarriage of our expected fourth child. I turned to retail therapy to help manage the grief. Life was really hard then but we just have to be thankful that we are still here. On the positive end, I could say one of the most valuable items I acquired were these NOVA Ubiquitous dioramas, which I now use in my toy photography sessions.

If I remember correctly, I bought two sets of these. One is the UB-01LS, which includes the lighting system and the other is an expansion set, UB-EX. I purchased the UB-01LS from the now-closed Animezing Toys and Collectibles shop, while the UB-EX came from Play Giant. These dioramas come with instructions on how to build them but they’re also customizable. They’re quite challenging to build though because putting together the connector pieces require a bit of pressure which will make your fingers hurt. Also, the wiring for the lighting system is a bit tricky and takes a lot of trial and error to fit them on underneath the tiles. However, the pain is definitely worth it because you get professional looking shots when you use the dio.

I built two dioramas for my toy shoots. One makes use of the UB-01LS’ lighting system and has a bigger floor space meant for larger groups. The other is a much smaller base, ideal for more compact scenes.

Here’s a look at the lighting colors the UB-01LS offers. You can switch from white, blue, red and purple. In addition to adjusting the light’s intensity, you could also choose between static and fading lighting effects which is preferrable for videos. By the way, the UB-01LS comes with a mini remote which makes it easier for you to configure the dio’s lighting settings.